rd th 3-5 March 23-24, 2013 Matthew 21:1-11 (Pg. 1078 Adventure Bible); Luke 19:28-44 (Pg. 1153-1154 Adv. Bible) Hang out with kids (10 minutes): Ask kids about their week. Get kids into groups and play games together. Large Group (30 minutes): Model what it looks like to be engaged in large group. And don t be afraid to redirect kids who aren t! Palm Sunday Palm Sunday: Jesus announces that he is the Rescuer Pray with your team. Being with a bunch of energetic kids can be challenging. Invite God to be with you or your team as you tell a very exciting part of God s story today. Small Group (20-30 minutes): Keep kids in small groups until parents arrive. If you all have extra time at the end, you can review the video and songs together. Remind kids to tell their parents why they made such awesome palm leaves in Kids Club today. We re talking about why we celebrate Palm Sunday: it s a really big deal!
Goal: to help kids dig deeper into the story and consider what it shows us about Jesus and how it applies to our lives Why? This is a story that some kids have heard every year since they were young. We want it to have fresh meaning this year. Tip: The fact that this event was prophesied so specifically is pretty cool and shows us how significant this event is. Emphasize that for kids! CONNECT 1. Tell us your name and one thing that surprised you in today s story. (Could be that Jesus rode on a donkey, how people reacted, that some people didn t believe Jesus, that Jesus said the rocks would cry out, that the trees will one day praise Jesus, anything!) REVIEW/DIG DEEPER 2. Something else that might surprise you is this: God told a prophet named Zechariah what would happen. hundreds of years before Jesus announced he was king. Can somebody read a verse for us today? It s in Zechariah 9:9 (hold up the verse card): City of Zion, be full of joy! People of Jerusalem, shout! See, your king comes to you. He always does what is right. He has the power to save. He is gentle and riding on a donkey. He is sitting on a donkey s colt. a. Wow, can you guys believe that? Wave your leaf if you can find ONE thing that happened in the story and in this verse. I ll read it one more time. (Read it again for kids. Wait until all the kids are waving their leaves. Then make sure they say the following things): i. Jesus entered Jerusalem (City of Zion is the same thing) ii. He announced he was King iii. He rode on a donkey iv. People shouted with joy and praise b. What else happened in the story that isn t in that verse? (can have kids wave leaves again) i. It doesn t say how Jesus got a donkey (by telling the disciples to go ask for one) ii. It doesn t say that some people didn t want Jerusalem to treat Jesus as the king. (continue on the next page)
3. Why would God tell Zechariah about Jesus hundreds of years before Jesus came? (He wanted everybody to be ready for the king and to recognize Jesus as the Rescuer! He wants everybody to be a part of his family.) 4. What would you have done if you were in Jerusalem when Jesus came riding in? ACTIVITY Now, we re going to create our own palm leaf. You ve got one leaf already, but I m going to give you each 3 more (give kids 3 more palm strips). Now, I m going to give you a straw (give kids a straw). Tie your palm leaf around the straw, like this (model it). Tie each of them; then push them closer together. (Push them close, so that the bottom half of the straw can be a handle. ) As kids tie, discuss this question: 5. Jesus will one day re-create the world. Even the trees will treat him as king! But we can start treating him as our king right now, just like the people in Jerusalem who believed in the rescuer. What are some ways we can treat Jesus as king? (Brainstorm with the kids. Here are ideas to get you started: obey parents, sing to Jesus, pray, be kind to others like Jesus was gentle and kind, give thanks, etc.) *After this, wave your palm branches and then pray with the kids. Thank God for sending Jesus as the Rescuer! Ask him to help you treat Jesus as King this week by following him and praising him. Then, remind kids to take their palm branch home and tell their family about today s story. Extra time? Try this: Re-read the verse on the card. This time ask kids what this verse tells about Jesus (and remind them that God told us all about Jesus HUNDEREDS of years before he was born). Zechariah 9:9 (hold up the verse card): City of Zion, be full of joy! People of Jerusalem, shout! See, your king comes to you. He always does what is right. He has the power to save. He is gentle and riding on a donkey. He is sitting on a donkey s colt. Make sure they say: a. Brings joy people who are near him should be glad b. He is our King c. He is perfect always does what is right d. He is gentle always kind
1 Palm Sunday is a big deal. Even though we want kids to see the bittersweet side of it, make sure to set an overall tone of excitement in the room. A room full of listening and actively engaged kids is a sign of an awesome presenter. Feel like you're losing 'em? Change things up a bit! Raise the volume of your voice, or sit down and start whispering. Use your whole presenting area to walk to speak dramatically! Hi kids! Welcome to Kids Club! It s so great to see you all here. Before we get started, I want you to go grab a leader s hand. (Wait for kids to circle up around leaders). Okay pull them over to sit next to you! (Let kids pull volunteers forward.) Great job! Now everybody have a seat. INTRO: JESUS ANNOUNCES HE IS THE KING This is a special day. Does anybody know the name of it? (Let kids respond: Palm Sunday.) Yep, Palm Sunday! And every year, on the Sunday before Easter, we celebrate the time Jesus announced to the whole city of Jerusalem that he is the rescuer and King! We call it Palm Sunday because people treated him exactly like a king. That means they shouted at Jesus as he rode into town on a donkey and they laid down cloaks and palm branches like they were rolling out the red carpet. That s how we got the name Palm Sunday. Now, we don t have kings in America, but we do sometimes shout and wave at important people who ride limos or fancy cars. Let s watch an example of how we sometimes treat important or famous people to get a feel for the excitement surrounding Jesus when he rode into town: Video: Clip of crowd chasing celebrity Wow, picture crowds getting that excited when Jesus came through town. But in a different way because Jesus wasn t just a celebrity they wanted to see, he was the Rescuer they wanted to worship!
PALM SUNDAY IS BITTERSWEET Now, the day Jesus came to town on a donkey to announce he was King was an incredibly exciting day. And tons of people believed in him as the Rescuer and the King. But it was also bittersweet. Something bittersweet means there are both good and bad parts. For example, when school s out for the summer, it s sweet because you get to sleep in and have fun. But it s bitter because you won t see your friends every day. Or, if you are playing soccer and have the best game of your life because you score five goals, that s sweet! But if your team still loses, the game is also bitter. So Palm Sunday was sweet because TONS of people believed that Jesus was the rescuer! But there was a bitter or sad part too. In fact, Palm Sunday was so bittersweet that in the midst of the celebration, Jesus began to cry. We re going to watch a video of the story. As we watch, see if you can figure out why Jesus started crying in the middle of all the celebration. Video: God s Story Palm Sunday So why did Jesus start crying? Turn and tell a friend why Jesus started crying. (Let kids tell a friend. Ask somebody to share.) Yes, on the very day Jesus announces his rescue, some people don t believe he IS the Rescuer! And they wanted others to stop treating Jesus as King! JESUS WANTS TO RESCUE US Jesus was sad, because he really IS the Rescuer. A week after he rode into Jerusalem, he knew he would die to take the punishment of all the wrong things in the world. And he wants EVERYBODY to believe he is the Rescuer, so that EVERYBODY can be a part of God s family. See, John 1:12 says this: SLIDE: John 1:12-Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God That verse is saying that EVERYBODY who does believe Jesus is the Rescuer, sent by God to save us from all the wrong things we ve done is a son or daughter of God, in God s own family! Now, that s GREAT news! THE SWEETEST PART But this story gets even better. Remember, there were still huge crowds waving palm branches and praising Jesus! It s what they wanted to do in order to treat him as a king. Let s see how that might feel. Small group leaders, will you come up and help me give each person a palm leaf? (Have small group leaders help you distribute palm leaves.)
Everybody, wave your leaf! (Let kids begin.) Keep it going and look around; listen to the rustle of the leaves. Imagine if all the trees were waving, dancing, celebrating Jesus. We don t know how it would look, but maybe something like this: Video: Dancing trees loop (As it plays, continue): Alright, you guys can stop waving. Well, guess what? All those waving branches on Palm Sunday gave us a little preview of how God will one day re-create a perfect world for his whole family, where everybody will know Jesus is King and everybody will praise him! Even the trees will praise Jesus! God told us about it through his prophet Isaiah. Let s stop waving a minute to hear what God says: SLIDE: Isaiah 55:12-You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Palm Sunday is really special because it gives us a taste of when Jesus, our king, will re-create a new world for all God s family! And because Jesus rescued us, we can all live in that world one day! WORSHIP But remember, even though we don t live in a perfect world, we know Jesus rescued us! So we can start treating Jesus as our king right now! Let s start by shouting our own praises today! And if you want to wave your leaf, feel free! Music Video: Jesus Loves Me (live lyrics with hand motions) Music Video: Because Of Your Love (music video kids can watch) PRAY Will somebody come and thank Jesus for being our Rescuer King?
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1. 3 palm strips per kid (use http://www.merhaut.com/palm.asp?gclid=cp nd0zhwpqccfyhc4aod9kngcq#.uqbqykp 2HQ1 or something like it) 2. 1 straw per kid 3. Per small group: 1 brightly colored 8.5 x 11 inch paper with this verse printed as large as possible: Zechariah 9:9: City of Zion, be full of joy! People of Jerusalem, shout! See, your king comes to you. He always does what is right. He has the power to save. He is gentle and riding on a donkey. He is sitting on a donkey s colt. 1. NIV Adventure Bible (pg. 1078, pg. 1153) 2. 1 palm strip per kid 1. Slide: the first 30 seconds of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz3jyy757sc 2. Video: God s Story / Palm Sunday 3. SLIDE: John 1:12-Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God 4. You Tube loop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyh8q-iq0ko (keep it going until slide advances) 5. SLIDE: Isaiah 55:12-You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! 6. Music Video: Jesus Loves Me (live lyric version, no animation) 7. Music Video: Because of Your Love (music video from the K-5 music slides in GenLogin B- Kind folder) None Tell me about Palm Sunday. Why was Palm Sunday such an important day? Palm Sunday marks a really significant day so significant that God told us about it hundreds of years before it actually happened. It s the day Jesus announced that he is the Rescuer and King. Ask your kid to tell you the story. You can read about it together in Luke 19:28-44.